It’s hard to believe that it’s been five years since the first episode of The Ready Room. Born of disaster, this show has evolved into a gathering place for the hosts of the network that grew up around it. The Trek.fm network has become an important part of the daily routine for many Star Trek fans, but there was a time when there was no network. There was just this show. So as we reach another milestone—200 episodes—we take a break from our usual format to quietly mark the occasion with a good friend who has been part of The Ready Room almost since the beginning: Larry Nemecek.

But first, we start with a bit of the history behind both The Ready Room and the network …

Chapters The History of The Ready Room (00:00:00) Larry Beams In (00:26:47) Where Was the Franchise in 2011? (00:39:38) Where We Are Now (00:54:31) Star Trek’s Return to TV (01:02:25) Five Years of The Ready Room (01:18:03) The Changing Media Landscape (01:37:47) Fandom Triumphs (01:50:05) The Direction of the New Series (02:00:59) Final Thoughts (02:16:22)

As any Star Trek fans knows, the original mission of the Enterprise 1701 was to span five years. Unfortunately, the television executives of the 1960s had other plans as Kirk and his crew sailed off into the darkness after just three seasons. But that doesn't mean the mission didn't continue. What happened after "Turnabout Intruder"? The independent series Star Trek Continues picks up where TOS left off, continuing the five-year mission by telling the stories we didn't see.

In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by some of the cast and crew of Star Trek Continues to talk about the creation of the series, the first two episodes—"Pilgrim of Eternity" and "Lolani"—and what their plans are for the future. Director Chris White and assistant director Chuck Huber fill us in on the production side while Larry Nemecek (Dr. McCoy) and Todd Haberkorn (Spock) talk about bringing iconic characters to the screen once again. Plus, a surprising number of characters from a galaxy far, far away drop by for a visit.

In our news segment we remember prolific Star Trek director Cliff Bole, find out how Robert Beltran is warming up to Star Trek fans on Twitter and Reddit, run down the Saturn Award nominations for Star Trek Into Darkness, and find out what Larry Nemecek has planned for his invasion of Jacksonville, Florida.

KHAN.

He is arguably the most iconic villain in Star Trek history—if not cinema history itself. A character with superior abilities, superior intellect, but who easily grows fatigued. Of course he is Khan Noonien Singh. Instead of going for something completely new for the second installment of his Star Trek reboot, J.J. Abrams chose to use the villain who the fan base considers sacred—a move that has generated cries of outrage from many. But to understand Khan and his role in Into Darkness requires more than just a glance at The Wrath of Khan. In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by the world's foremost expert on Khan, John Tenuto, to discuss the origins of the character, how he was used in "Space Seed," The Wrath of Khan, and Star Trek Into Darkness, and why there are more connections to the purest form of Khan's character in J.J.'s film than you may realize.

In our news segment we rejoice in Bye Bye Robot's choice to produce lithographs of Matt Ferguson's beautiful posters for the six Original Series films, get ready to listen to William Shatner's upcoming album Ponder the Mystery, and unleash our own wrath directed at Paramount and Bad Robot over the Star Trek Into Darkness Blu-ray fiasco. Plus, we field our first Questions from the Fleet.

100 Things We Love About Star Trek.

This week we reach a milestone: our 100th show! To help us celebrate the occasion we’ve gathered members of the Trek.fm crew from all around the globe for a double-length feature. In this episode of The Ready Room we forego our usual format as Matthew Rushing, Charlynn Schmiedt, Drew Stewart, Lorrie Sears, Thomas Baddeley, Max Hegel, Daniel Proulx, Mariel Keeran, and Matt Miller join us for an informal chat about a hundred things we love about Star Trek.

In an abbreviated news segment we hear from one of our most devoted listeners and check in on Star Trek: The Exhibition as it kicks off in San Diego. We also look at some very limited autographed collectibles from Amazon and Celebrity Authentics signed by William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Zachary Quinto.

Over the course of 45 years Star Trek has had its ups and downs—from cancellation three years into the original five year mission to revival on the big screen, the birth of The Next Generation to the golden age of the 1990s, the fizzle of Enterprise to the J.J. Abrams reboot. Through it all Star Trek has remained a part of our lives in a way few things have. In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Star Trek historian Larry Nemecek, and Trek veterans Doug Mirabello and Jose Munoz of Zero Room to discuss the current state of the franchise, where things are headed on the big screen, and what we might expect from Star Trek in the decades to come on television and beyond.

In news we cover the reunion of the full principal TNG cast at the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo, Geek Nation Tours: Exploring Trek Sites: Hollywood to Vegas with Larry Nemecek, and lots of news and rumors about the next movie including MTV News allegedly stumping Benedict Cumberbatch with a Star Trek quiz, Khan as the villain, and possible appearances by the Klingons and Leonard Nimoy. And we always remember two members of the Star Trek family who we lost over the past week, Joel Goldsmith and George Murdock.

The past 12 months have been busy for Star Trek despite the lack of original content on TV. Leonard Nimoy bid farewell to convention appearances, Star Trek Las Vegas saw an enourmous gathering and brought us a new World Record for fans in costume, IDW launched a new series of comics based on the Abramsverse, the gaming world was abuzz with activity, and let’s not forget about the Star Trek Light-up Feeding System. In this episode of The Ready Room we look back at 2011, remember those members of the Star Trek family who we lost this year, and look ahead to 2012.

In news we cover Star Trek and the holidays plus some movie news including the conversion from 2-D to 3-D, more casting including Bruce Greenwood as Pike, whether or not any Original Series cast members will appear, and our latest villain theory… it’s someone you’ll never expect. Along the way we take many detours and are paid a visit by a very unexpected guest.

A collaboration of five Star Trek fans who endeavor to write and record a song for each of the episodes of The Original Series, Five Year Mission is a favorite of ours here at Trek.fm. Their first album, Year One, quickly rose to the top of our playlists over the past year, and the wait for Year Two has been a long one. On recent shows we’ve been previewing tracks from the new album and now we are pleased to bring you the band itself! In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Noah, Andy, Patrick, Mike, and Chris to discuss the making of Year Two and to give us live acoustic performances of four new tracks!

In news we cover the results of our Neelix Thanksgiving poll, new movie developments that are multiplying faster than Tribbles, a contest to win a walk-on roll on the next Star Trek movie, some details from Mike Okuda about the TNG Remastered project, and the Anovos Command Division TOS Dress replica. Plus Chris makes whale noises and Greg channels Riker from “The Icarus Factor.”

With the reboot of Star Trek in 2009 the TOS time period came back into style. But is TNG poised for a comeback? Is the Star Trek Pendulum about to swing back toward the Enterprise-D? In this episode of The Ready Room we’re joined by Larry Nemecek to discuss how fandom moves back and forth between the series. We also talk about how each series was a reaction to the one before it, and about the future of Star Trek on television.

In our news segment we look at what it might be like if Seth MacFarlane were to reboot Trek on TV, play with the Star Trek Deck Builder Card Game, William Shatner’s new album Seeking Major Tom, Apple’s Siri, how Quinto may be prepping for the next Star Trek movie, and we cast the next Starfleet engineer.

It's one of the most puzzling aspects of Enterprise, both in terms of story and purpose. It's the Temporal Cold War. What started off as a central element in the pilot episode “Broken Bow” became a strand that was difficult to tie together with the missions of the NX-01. In this episode of The Ready Room hosts Christopher Jones and Greg Harbin discuss the exploits of Future Guy and the many other players in this conflict that quietly spanned the centuries.

In our news segment we take a look at the DVD release of William Shatner's documentary "The Captains," the upcoming Science Channel premier of Trek Nation, hear Shatner's thoughts on geekdom's favourite battlefield—Star Trek vs. Star Wars—plus find out that Kate Mulgrew wants a Voyager movie. Plus, Greg has fun creating his own video: Jonathan Coulton's Star Trek Nemeses.

They're an offshoot of the Vulcans who chose conflict over logic. As one of the two original enemy empires from The Original Series, the Romulans have remained almost as mysterious to us as they were to Kirk and Spock. Despite their increased use on TNG and DS9, the Romulans were never fleshed out enough to realize their potential. In this episode of The Ready Room we take a look at this scheming race to uncover what we do know about them, from their first appearance in "Balance of Terror" to their use in the first J.J. Abrams film.

In our news segment we cover Will Decker and The Office, a fan edit of The Motion Picture that creates what would have been the pilot for Star Trek Phase II, “In Thy Image,” the appearance of Star Trek on Amazon Prime, get a preview of IDW’s November 2011 comics, play a round of Klingon and Ferengi Monopoly, check in on the possibility of Vulcan coming back in the next movie, learn about a proposed David Foster Star Trek Series, debate Trek's toughest villains, choose our favourite Enterprise design, and wish a happy birthday to the late great Gene’s birthday.

Kirk. Picard. Sisko. Janeway. Archer. Every Star Trek fans has their favourite, and each captain has their own unique command style. Sometimes it's hard to put one ahead of the other when ranking Starfleet's leaders, but in this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Brian Finifter of Down In Front to discuss each of these captains, their pros and cons, and reveal under whom we'd prefer to serve.

In our news segment we look at some new Mego-style retro action figures from Diamond Select Toys and Art Asylum, StarTrek.com’s interviews with Terry Ferrell and Connor Trinneer, a Technorati interview with Alice Krige, a possible animated series from Roberto Orci, and Five Year Mission’s “Year Two.”

They're cute, they're cuddly, and they're the most furtile creatures in the known universe. Oh… and they're one of the few things that can instil fear in a Klingon warrior. They are, of course, tribbles! In this episode of The Ready Room hosts Christopher Jones and Greg Harbin clear out a space to sit and discuss tribbles from throughout Star Trek including appearances in The Original Series, The Animated Series, and Deep Space Nine. So grab your blood wine and join us for The Great Tribble Hunt!

In our news segment we discuss Google+ giving William Shatner the boot, James Darren’s interview with Star Trek.com, the science behind photon torpedoes, the Borg as a social network, Robot Chicken producer Matt Senreich's comments about Star Trek, the addition of Star Trek to Amazon's streaming service, the end of Star Trek: Vanguard, and we look at the 2011 Hallmark Keepsakes.

As fans wait for a new TV series to appear, few know that we came very close to an animated one appearing online just before the J.J. Abrams reboot began. Three veterans of Star Trek production formed a studio called Zero Room and began developing an animated show called "Final Frontier." In this episode of The Ready Room we're joined by Dave Rossi, Doug Mirabello, and Jose Munoz to discuss the animated series they pitched to CBS and that came close to being picked up by StarTrek.com.

Few things have divided the Star Trek fan community like the J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek. Many embrace it as a needed shot in the arm that has revitalized the franchise. Others despise it to the point of calling J.J. a Denebian slime devil—or worse. Can there really be two Kirks and two Spocks? Or is TOS hallowed ground that should be left alone? In this episode of The Ready Room hosts Christopher Jones and Greg Harbin are joined by Trek.fm feature writer Lisa M. Lynch and Brian Finifter of Down In Front to debate the original Star Trek vs the reboot.

In our news segment we look at a new Abramsverse video game coming to consoles and PCs in 2012, J.J. Abrams talking Star Trek 2, the opening weekend results for Super 8, writers Roberto Orci and Damon Lindelof getting their planking fetish on, the science of J.J.’s Star Trek, the Hero Complex Film Festival, and some details about a new Star Trek TV Series pitched by William Shatner. Plus, we're joined by Five Year Mission for a live performance of tracks from their album "Year One," and a sneak peak at "Year Two."

Fans may have had a blasé reaction to Enterprise, but with so many years of broadcast silence the one thing everyone is now clamouring for is new Star Trek on television. It will happen. There's no doubt about it. Just when that will be and what for it will take, however, are up for debate. In this episode of The Ready Room hosts Christopher Jones and Greg Harbin look at some of the concepts that have been proposed as well as some that fans have on their wish lists—Final Frontier, Federation, Titan, Star Trek Online, a series based on the adventures of the Enterprise-B, and one set in the Abramsverse.

In news we discuss Star Trek 2 vs. The Hobbit, TNG Remastered in HD, the Star Trek Red Sea Resort, the Trekathon event that screened and rated all 11 films in one sitting, an interview in which Malcolm McDowel gets all up in Kirk's face, the cancellation of $#*! My Dad Says, and Leonard Nimoy's appearance in Bruno Mars's new music video. Plus, Larry Nemecek joins us to discuss his current documentary project, The Con of Wrath.